Donations requested for teen injured in interstate wreck

The cousin of a teenager injured in a car wreck last Saturday on Interstate 40 started a GoFundMe page for the injured girl, who remained Friday in the intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

According to Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Travis Plotzer, Haley Murphy was the passenger in a car when a 15-year-old driver crossed over several lanes and hit another car, knocking both vehicles off the right side of the roadway. The wreck happened at about 5:30 p.m. on I-40 near mile-marker 223.

First responders cut both teenagers out of the car, and paramedics took both to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. There, doctors placed Murphy in a medically induced coma in the adult trauma intensive care unit.

Troopers charged the 15-year-old driver with reckless endangerment, due care and driving without a license.

Murphy’s cousin, Heather Owen, started a GoFundMe page to help the family with medical bills.

“She has a partial collapsed lung, broken ribs and pelvic bone, fractured leg spinal damage, internal bleeding, and the doctors are not sure if there is anymore damage due to swelling,” said Owen. “Our sweet girl is fighting for her life. We have God on our side, so we know she is going to pull through this.”

Murphy is a junior at Wilson Central High School, and Owen said, because of the wreck, she will have to miss prom and take a different path to graduate high school.

“She was put in a very bad situation based on someone else’s actions,” said Owen. “Haley is such a good girl, and it’s heartbreaking to think how much her life is going to change because of this accident.”

Owen wants to raise $10,000 to help Murphy’s family cover the medical expenses. As of Friday, Owen raised $860 in three days.

On Thursday, Owen posted an update that Murphy had her fifth surgery to fix her broken leg and ankle, and another surgery was planned for Friday.

For more information or to donate, visit gofundme.com/tdw4h-local-teen-in-horrible-car-wreck.